Should I take a bath after 10pm?

I find that taking a hot bath helps me sleep and relax, but does taking a bath late at night when it's cold affect my health? (Tung, 27 years old, Hanoi ).

Reply:

At night, the body will reduce metabolism, reduce muscle tone, reduce contractions of the heart and blood vessels, and the digestive tract to rest. Bathing late at night will change the body's normal biological rhythm.

The later it gets at night, the colder the weather gets, the greater the temperature difference between the environment and the body. Taking a hot bath, then the hot water evaporates, makes the body lose heat, making it susceptible to cold. When losing heat, the body will constrict blood vessels to retain heat, causing blood pressure to increase and blood vessels to constrict. Taking a bath at night makes chronic respiratory patients such as chronic bronchitis, bronchial asthma... more likely to get worse, increasing the risk of stroke and myocardial infarction.

For skin and hair, bathing at night with hot water makes the skin dry, hair fall out easily, fungus. Bathing at night can increase spasm disorder in the colon or cause increased secretion of gastric acid, causing pain in the epigastric region.

To ensure safety, you should bathe before 8pm. Do not bathe at night or early in the morning as it can easily cause strokes and accidents. You should bathe from the neck down first, let your hands and feet get used to the water, then wash your hair. Bathing time should only be about 10 minutes, not too long. The water temperature should not be too hot to melt the oil layer, causing dry skin, and should not be too cold to cause vasoconstriction, which is not good for the circulatory system. The reasonable temperature is about 40 degrees.

After bathing, you can wash your hair for 5 to 7 minutes, do not soak for too long.

Do not bathe when you are too hungry, too full, drunk, tired, or just woken up. Do not bathe in an area that is too cold or windy. Dry your body and hair, and wear clothes carefully to keep your body warm after bathing. Do not bathe immediately after vigorous exercise that causes a sudden change in body temperature.

Doctor Nguyen Huy Hoang
Vietnam - Russia Hyperbaric Oxygen Center, Ministry of National Defense

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